Indonesian Embassy Trying to Reach Citizens in Vanuatu After 7.3 Quake

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Embassy in Canberra, is continuing efforts to contact Indonesian citizens, diaspora members, and colleagues in the island nation of Vanuatu following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck on Tuesday (12/17).

"The Embassy is also continuously trying to contact officials and contact points in Vanuatu. However, these contacts have not yet been reached," said Foreign Affairs Ministry's Information and Media Director Hartyo Harkomoyo, in a written statement in Jakarta on Tuesday (12/17) as reported by ANTARA.

Hartyo said that, based on information from Vanuatu authorities in Sydney, telecommunications networks in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, are down.

There are 48 Indonesian citizens in Vanuatu, consisting of 47 crew members (ABK) and one Indonesian citizen married to a foreign national.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) said that the 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which triggered a tsunami in Vanuatu, had no impact on Indonesian territory.

Director of the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Daryono, in Jakarta on Tuesday (12/17) said the moderate earthquake was centered at sea with a depth of 50 kilometers and a distance of 47 kilometers southwest of Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, in the Pacific.

The earthquake, which occurred at approximately 8.47 AM Western Indonesian Time (WIB), was triggered by the subduction or sinking of the Indo-Australian Plate beneath the Pacific Plate. The subduction rate in Vanuatu is 92 millimeters per year, resulting in an earthquake with a horizontal combination.

"Based on monitoring, this type of earthquake is classified as a shallow earthquake that was reported to have generated a tsunami. However, it did not affect Indonesian territory," said Daryono.

According to him, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), based in Hawaii, provided information that the earthquake generated a local tsunami with a height of 0.25 meters at the Port Vila Tide Gauge at 9.07 AM WIB. Then, a height of 0.19 meters was recorded at the Lennakel Tide Gauge at 9.23 AM WIB, and a height of 0.13 meters at the Luganville Tide Gauge at 9.27 AM WIB.